P R I N T V E R S I O N
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P R I N T V E R S I O N Componist Travel Author Music Ethnologist Expeditions and Adventures Photographer and Cameraman Page 02 Bio Page 04 Music Page 09 Books Page 10 Pictures Page 11 Travels Page 15 Catalogue Raisonné www.hanshelfritz.de/printversion.pdf Page 1 * 1902 or Hans Helfritz (1902–1995), applying himself to only one field of study Fstarted causing problems for him early in life. He grew up in Greifswald and Berlin (the photo shows him with his parents and his sister, Marlene). After his school-leaving examinations, and at the urging of his parents, he started vocational training in a bank. “I dreamt only of numbers. It was nearly the death of me,” noted Hans Hel- fritz in his 1990 autobiography Neugier trieb mich um die Welt (Curiosity drove me ‘round the world). He ended his training shortly thereafter and was allowed to start studying music in Berlin, which he financed himself with various different jobs. Since his family was not wealthy, Helfritz was forced to support himself with the jobs. STUDIES rom 1926 to 1929, Hans Helfritz studied contrabass and composition at the FUniversity for Music in Berlin, taught by Paul Hindemith, among others, and also studied comparative musicology with Professor Erich von Hornbostel. Alongside his music studies, he also developed an active, multifaceted ability – as shown in his later life – to combine personal interests with work. He was an accompanist to silent films at the cinema and also earned his keep by working as an extra at the State Opera. It was his work as a répétiteur at the Vera Skoronel and Berte Trümpy Dance Studio that led to his first commissions to compose, like the music for the 1930 ballet ‘Der Kreuzzug der Maschinen’ (The Crusade of the Machines), for which the score has been lost. His first success was also in 1930, the premiere of the ‘Konzert für Cembalo mit kleinem Orchester’ (Concert for Harpsichord and Small Orchestra) at the music festival in Bad Pyrmont. However, the first, great expedition to the Near East in 1930 provided Helfritz’s life the first of its many, completely new leaves. FIRST TRAVELS is return from the Near East (1930) did nothing to extinguish Hans Hel- Hfritz’s new-found passion for travel. He brought back photographs and sound recordings and published his first book. His most important expedition was to Southern Arabia. On the suggestion of Professor von Hornbostel, Helfritz found himself on three occasions in Hadra- maut (1931–1935) in what was then the Kingdom of Yemen, where he was the first person to record the songs of the Bedouin peoples. He also managed to become the first European to set foot in the legendary and heavily guarded city of Sheba, which brought him a measure of international acclaim. Along with books and photos, he also released two documentary films. Between 1935 and 1939 Hans Helfritz was traveling almost constantly, visi- ting, among other locations, the Near East and the American continent. He feared being denounced and persecuted in Nazi Germany due to his homose- xuality and thus, with the outbreak of war, he found himself in Bolivia where he was researching for a new book. He did not to return to Germany, but instead went into exile in Chile. www.hanshelfritz.de/printversion.pdf Page 2 xile in Chile meant that Hans Helfritz had to first eke out a living as a Epostcard photographer. But it was not long before he started getting offers to participate in scientific expeditions as photographer and cameraman. He traveled through Chile, which is over 4,000 km long, into Antarctica and also landed on the far-away Easter Island. Several of his books were publis- hed in Germany soon after the war. In Santiago, especially during the Second World War, Hans Helfritz met many well-known musicians and conductors, among them the pianist Walter Giese- king and the conductor Hermann Scherchen. This marked the beginning of his second intensive creative period as a composer. But it was not until after he became a citizen of Chile in 1948 that Helfritz could take part in the national music competitions. On his first attempt, he achieved first place with his ‘Kon- zert für Tenorsaxophon und Orchester’ (Concert for Tenor Saxophone and Orchestra). RETURN ue to the changing political and economic situation in Chile, Hans Hel- Dfritz returned to Europe for good in 1959 and settled down on the Bale- aric Island of Ibiza. Since he no longer had a strong connection to the German music world, he put more focus on his travelling, books and lectures. During this time he only occasionally composed music. The 1960’s and 70’s were years of intensive travelling, whereby curiosity con- nected seamlessly with his work. He used his activity as a tour guide, which he began after the war, for book research. Travel guides about Indonesia, Mexico and Ethiopia were published. As he had made several journeys to Afri- ca in the late 1950’s and early 60’s, he returned with impressive photos and a travelogue (Schwarze Ritter, Zwischen Niger und Tschad – Black Knights, Bet- ween Niger and Chad, 1958). Hans Helfritz continued to pursue his various interests into old age. OLD AGE 1995 fter his autobiography, Neugier trieb mich um die Welt A(Curiosity Drove Me ‘Round the World) was published in 1990, in which he wrote down his anecdote-rich life story, three documentary films about Hans Helfritz were made. One of these was with the American author and composer Paul Bowles. For the film, Helfritz tr aveled to Morocco and as a 92-year-old also visited Guatemala, Chile and California. Helfritz was unable to attend the 1995 celebration at Berlin’s Academy of the Arts, where the Hans Helfritz Archive was inau- gurated, as he lay critically ill in a hospital in Duisburg. A mere day later, on October 21, 1995, the 93-year-old Helfritz died. The urn with his ashes was interred in Sant Agustí on Ibiza in February 1996. www.hanshelfritz.de/printversion.pdf Page 3 COMPOSER Until 1939 ans Helfritz received private music instruction from Paul Höffer, Ha student of Franz Schreker, until he was admitted into Berlin’s University of Music in 1926. From 1926–29, he studied contrabass, composition and music ethnology there, and also played in the Uni - versity Orchestra under the direction of Schreker. His instructors, among others, included Curt Sachs, Heinz Tiessen, Egon Petri, Max Butting and Paul Hindemith, with whom he took a course under the auspices of the radio broadcast testing station (Rundfunkversuchsstelle). He realized his first successes, among which were the performance of ‘Konzert für Cembalo mit kleinem Orchester’ (Concert for Harpsi- chord and Small Orchestra, 1930) and the ballet music for ‘Der Kreuzzug der Maschinen’ (The Crusade of the Machines), performed at the Berlin Volks- bühne on Bülowplatz to Choreo- graphy by Vera Skoronel (1930, lost). After this first, intensive creativ e period, traveling and writing books supplanted his composi- tion work. 1939 - 1948 hen Helfritz went into Chilean exile in 1939, this started the Wsecond and perhaps most creative phase of composition in his life. But the tragedy of German music in exile was because the favo- rable contexts in which it was created were missing. Santiago de Chile between 1939 and 1959 was not Berlin in the 20’s. Continuity to the times in Berlin was hardly possible for Helfritz, as for others. Despite this, the foreign surroundings inspired new, original works from the composers. In South America, he jotted down measures that he would use in later works. He collected pentatonic melodies from native tribes in Bolivia and Peru, with which materials he crea- ted a comprehensive 14-piece cycle for piano he published under the title of ‘Aru Amunyas’. In Chile Hans Helfritz met many musicians, including the conductor Hermann Scherchen who promoted Helfritz’s work, not least by publishing the ‘Konzert für Tenorsaxophon’ (Concert for Tenor Saxo- phone) and the ‘Orgelkonzert’ (Organ Concert) through his music publisher, Ars Viva. “The music scene in Santiago during the war years was not at all provincial. We had important conductors like Victor Tevah, Erich Kleiber and Fritz Busch. Then famous soloists came from overseas; Iturbi, at that time still a pianist, Arthur Rubinstein gave concerts, and later, after the war, Walter Gieseking was one of the first to celebrate great success in Santiago.” www.hanshelfritz.de/printversion.pdf Page 4 1948-1959 n Santiago Helfritz became acquainted with the young Chilean Icomposer Juan Allende-Blin and the German organist Gerd Zacher, who was active in the German church in Santiago from 1954–57. He remained lifelong friends with the both of them. Helfritz composed various organ music scores for Zacher: ‘Fünf Spielstücke für Orgel’ (Five Playing Pieces for Organ, 1965), ‘Fünf Stücke für Orgel’ (Five Pieces for Organ, 1977) and ‘Tres composiciónes für Orgel’ (Three Compositions for Organ, 1985). It was not until after the war when he became a Chilean citi- zen in 1948 that Hans Helfritz gained contacts to Chile’s music scene. The premiere of his ‘Con- certino für Klavier und Orchester ’ (Concerto for Piano and Orche- stra) in early November, 1947, in Santiago de Chile was a success, but the real breakthrough for him as a composer came with his ‘Konzert für Tenorsaxophon und Orchester’ (Concert for Tenor Saxophone and Orchestra) at its pre- miere in 1948. At the music festival “Extensión Musical” in Santiago de Chile, he received first prize. Helfritz was inspired by the folk music of the Andes peoples over and over again, but transposed them into his works rather unconsciously, with the exception of ‘Aru Amunyas, Musica folklorica de Bolivia’ (Aru Amunyas, Folkloric Music of Bolivia, 1940) where he worked Native melodies into music for piano.